Blue Badge Fraud in the UK

Prosecutions for Blue Badged Fraud have doubled since three years ago, with professionals such as architects and lawyers amongst the offenders. Over the last few months you may have noticed the increased coverage within the media of the issue of blue badge fraud.

We at Shortfall are proud to bring you all of the latest issues on road safety and controversial issues such as this one. We all see the individuals at the supermarket parking in a parent space or a disabled space, but the new badge fraud is a whole new level of illegal parking.

Fraudsters have been caught using passes of dead relatives or leaving a disabled person at home and using the badge in order to park, go shopping or travel to work free, the Local Government Association have said.

In 2013, there were 686 successful prosecutions, which was up from 2010's figure of 330 as councils cracked down on Blue Badge fraud offenders.

There are over 2,000,000 disabled people that use blue badges so that they can park for free in pay and display bays and can also park on yellow lines for up to three hours, also in the capital, people with a blue badge or exempt from paying the congestion charge.

Apparently Plymouth Council, Stoke on Trent and Hull City Council have recently secured their first prosecutions against blue badge fraudsters, whilst Manchester City Council have allegedly had a 100% conviction rate with over 500 prosecutions over the last five years.

Councils throughout the United Kingdom are also using their new powers to be able to seize and confiscate blue badges that are suspected of being illegally used and some have even set up enforcement teams specifically for tackling blue badge fraud.

Chairman of the Local Government Association's economy and transport board Peter Box has said that it is shocking how low people will go in order to to get a few free hours of parking, including using a relative's blue badge who have passed away, or leaving a disabled family member trapped at home. He finished by saying Councils across Britain are determined to do everything they can to protect the quality of life for our vulnerable and disabled residents.